Amplifying the Fan Experience: Diederik van Zessen on Crafting Pioneering Audio Strategy

Diederik van Zessen is a seasoned freelance audio professional and the Head of Audio for Ajax, one of the most iconic football clubs in the world. With over 15 years of expertise in audio description and a deep passion for enhancing fan experiences, Diederik has been instrumental in shaping Ajax’s innovative audio strategy. Through his company, Sport Sounds, he provides cutting-edge audio solutions to sports organizations, including Ajax, Viaplay and the KNVB.

In this interview, Diederik shares insights into crafting immersive audio experiences that resonate with a global fanbase, the unique challenges of engaging a diverse audience, and how collaborations like the groundbreaking collaboration with Mycrocast are redefining accessibility and inclusivity in sports. From integrating storytelling and technology to championing the rise of audio description, Diederik offers a fascinating glimpse into the future of audio in sports and its potential to deepen connections between clubs and their fans.

Tell us about your role.

I am a freelance audio professional who works for Ajax as their Head of Audio. I have been working on the subject of audio description for over 15 years. The club also hires me for my expertise in fields s.e. podcast production and music supervision. My company Sport Sounds specifically provides audio solutions such as audio description for sport organisations with clients like Ajax and KNVB.

How do you think football clubs should approach the creation of an audio strategy that resonates with fans both in the stadium and around the world?

I believe the audio strategy of a football club consists of three layers: music, on demand audio and on live audio.

The music part is very much an extension of the brand identity. For example: Ajax is a local brand with a great, historical  international appeal. It is also known for it’s homegrown talent. Therefore Ajax likes to work with local artists for our music productions and live events.

For on demand I think it’s best to focus on all access content. Every popular football club will have a bunch of fan created podcasts that are generally very popular. Bigger clubs will also be covered in newsy podcast titless produced by (local) sports media. These two forms of podcasts do not have the access that club media has. Therefor I believe that a club should only be creating on demand (podcast) content that makes full use of the access club media has. This can either be done by inviting players and staff or by great storytelling podcasts in the documentary field.

The live layer is very much a FOMO layer. It should cover matches for people who cannot watch them. For Ajax, audio description commentary has been the lifeline of the live part of it’s audio strategy. Ajax has been providing adc since 2007 for visually impaired fans but in 2020, by popular demand, also decided to broadcast this through app and web.

What unique challenges do you face when curating audio experiences for such a diverse fanbase?

At Ajax, the language barrier is especially a challenge. The vast majority of social media followers do not have Dutch as their first language. But ultimately, as a Dutch club with a predominantly Dutch-speaking fanbase in the stands—your loyal supporters—you should focus on that, and that’s precisely why Dutch-language audio commentary is important. We face the same kind of threshold when it comes to music: a lot of the traditional fan hymns will be in Dutch and will be hard to understand and appreciate for fans without that context.

Ajax is known for its innovation in connecting with fans. How does audio enhance this connection, especially during live matches?

‘Ajax Radio’ has gained a lot of popularity amongst fans who cannot or do not want to watch the games, for whatever reason. It used to reach two reach double figures when it was only available inside the stadium where as now, the commentary reaches as many people as a stadium can hold.

How do you believe fan feedback should be integrated into the development of audio content and offerings at clubs?

Fans should believe and understand a brand identity. Which means if the fans don’t understand the music you sync for a campaign or if they do not like the music the dj plays in the stadium you should reconsider your strategy.

The audio livestreams you provide should be focussed on making the matches accessible for fans who cannot watch the games, but still want to follow. This could mean either a visually impaired fan in the stadium or for example someone abroad who can’t watch a video stream. These fans should be able to reach the broadcasters directly so they can all experience the match together.

Can you talk about any specific examples of how Ajax’s audio initiatives have strengthened fan loyalty or engagement?

During the pandemic, we decided to also cover all away games with audio description. So even when the visually impaired could not attend the matches, we made them accessible to everyone via audio. We added the possibility to interact during the matches, which a lot of people did: we recieve messages from all over the world. These decisions caused a major increase in the amount of listeners to the live audio stream.

Another, totally different example How do you balance creativity and technology to produce impactful audio content for a club?

I think clubs should try and be present at all online platforms on which their fans are also present. On these platforms, they should try to use all particular technical possibilities of these platforms. To do this, the club needs to use the knowledge of specific talent.  This talent will be the media managers of each platform at the club. For example: if a campaign involves music, it could be great to use it in fragments or edits on TikTok. Typically, the TikTok media manager at the club will know what is the best way to serve this music in videos on the platform. Does a throwback video need music or commentary audio? The answer is different for every different platform.

What role does storytelling play in Ajax’s audio strategy? Are there any memorable campaigns or moments you’ve been part of?

A good example of this could be the music video we created to welcome Antony to the club in 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjBo9_mJMzk) . It was a way to improve fan engagement also in Brazil. Ajax also officially released the song and it now has almost 6 million streams globally on Spotify.

Ajax’s partnership with Mycrocast is groundbreaking. Can you elaborate on how this collaboration came about and the goals you aim to achieve together?

In 2022, at a ‘Reimagine Football’-conference in Manchester representatives of Ajax, The Johan Cruijff ArenA and KNVB all attented. At this event, Mycrocast won a pitch with their app as a solution for audio description. At the Johan Cruijff ArenA there had been audio description since 2007, but the analogue FM transmitter broke down in the exact same summer as Mycrocast presented their product at the conference. Representatives of the Johan Cruijff ArenA remembered Mycrocast and invited them over to test and implement their product.

Me personally, I was very sceptical at the beginning because in my opinion the most important asset of audiodescription is the distribution speed. I could not believe that a digital solution via mobile internet would distribute as low-latency as FM. But it worked fine from the beginning and it’s even better now. In 2023 the KNVB (Dutch national football association) also started working with Mycrocast exclusively.

What unique features does Mycrocast bring to Ajax’s audio content, and how has it enhanced fan experiences?

One of the cool things about Mycrocast that we use is the automated clip tool. With this tool the commentators can hit a button in the web app that will create an audio clip of a set amount of time before activation. This way, the Ajax media team can immediately serve a short clip of a highlight in the commentating (such as a goal) in the live blog or on other social media platforms.

What trends in the audio and sports industry are you most excited about?

Audio description is kind of ‘hot’ at the moment. This is of course because of the benefits apps like Mycrocast provide, but also because of the rise and rise in audio consumption as a whole. People who cannot watch a game – weather they are visually impaired or just driving a car or running errands – still want to follow the performances of their favorite clubs and athletes. Audio description is the perfect way to do that. Companies such as Livescore now also provide commentary during games on a daily basis, even in Dutch. I believe that a good audio description strategy will not only make sports more inclusive for the visually impaired, but it can also attract the masses. If this happens, brands will follow.

How do you envision audio evolving as a medium for engaging fans in the next five years, particularly with advancements in immersive technology like AR and VR?

There are a few immersive technological advancements that could be of great impact in the world of audio description, particularly for the visually impaired. Some tech companies are now developing a touch-based solution, a little bit like braille language, where fans could follow the action by ‘feeling’ it. In one case that I tested, the company had built a heavily scaled down ‘football pitch’ on which I was able to feel where the ball was thanks to AI. It was great!

Adding a VR or AR layer to audio description would be hard in my opinion, because it would also mean adding video. In my vision the dependence on audio description lies within the lack of being able to see the event.